It sounds like science fiction, but neuroscientists have identified a molecule in mice that, when suppressed, significantly boosts memory. It’s meant as a radical treatment for Alzheimer’s patients, but there’s no reason the rest of us couldn’t take it, too.
Baylor University researchers discovered that a molecule called PKR serves two crucial function in the brains of mice. In everyday situations, it’s concerned with regulating how neurons interact in memory-related tasks. But when a virus invades, PRK activates a stress response that alerts the rest of the brain that something is very wrong. Alzheimer’s sufferers also experience PKR-releasing stress in the course of their disease.
Lead researcher Mauro Costa-Mattioli and his team worked with mice that had had the PKR molecule genetically suppressed. In its absence, another immune molecule known as gamma interferon steps in, and that’s when something remarkable happens. It turns out this understudy molecule is actually way better at its job than PKR, increasing communication between neurons and just generally making the memory centers of the brain more efficient.
The team realized that if they could find an inhibitor that could specifically block the PKR molecule, they could confer that same memory-boosting benefit without having to worry about genetic engineering. By injecting various potential inhibitors into the mice’s stomachs, they were able to find the right molecule. Even better, since that inhibitor blocked PKR from the stomach, that should mean it’s possible to create an ingestible drug that blocks PKR.
Image by Sebastian Kaulitzki
